Has anyone helped out a PD about a call heard on your scanner?

[hoser147]

I dont know if the law has changed but lately Ive heard when someone calls in a drunk driver they want to know if they have the callers info and dont seem to take the anonymous calls as serious. Only once have I and a freind gotten involved, in a stop, we heard it and new it was a mile or two ahead of us, it was about 12:30 am and as we approached we saw the patrol car and the suspect vehicle but know one around. I turned around and went into a business parking lot and then seen what was happening. The subject had the officer on the ground floggin on him, we had heard no call for help from the officer. At the time I had my Dept issued radio in the truck called in a code 10( officer needs assistance) my friend had already jumped out of the truck and as soon as I got off the radio, I went to help, we were fortunate to be at the right place at the right time and assisted the SGt getting the man under control and cuffed before the whole county got there. We got back in the truck and I took my buddy home. While I was on my way home I got stopped, it was the SGT that we helped out he just stopped me to tell me Thanks for getting involved and told me as fast as things went bad he had his hands full and didnt know what would have happened. Weve been friends ever since. Hoser

 

[hemi]

Herd a home invasion in the town next to mine, the stolen car was rolling our way. 2 or 3 doors down from us a cop on patroll see's the wanted car and a short chase takes place. the cop was by himself with 2 possably armed suspects who fled. i knew the cop personaly and went to offer some help which he was very greatfull for. I stayed with the stolen car and directed in comming officers in the direction of the chase. The never knew i herd them cimming on a scanner, but where greatfull for the help.

 

[MississippiPI]

Helping out PD

Be careful not to interfere nor risk your safety or the safety of someone else. I feel that that we all "owe" a sense of responsibility when it comes to calling in things to law enforcement but we also have to be careful as well.


Be safe

 

[ScanTheFreqs]

i was driving past a gas station and a car at the pump caught my eye because it had a decent amount of front end damage, about a minute later i heard a call of a hit and run that occured within the last 15 minutes, someone saw it, and described it as the exact vehicle i had just seen, i turned around, went back past the station and the car was still there. i quickly phoned the PD with the info and they were quite thankful

 

[commstar]

Remember: No good deed goes unpunished.

Don't forget about all that uncompensated court time.

The one you call on will be the one they did not want to catch.

The D/A will be grateful but will let you roast on the stand.

The Defense Attorney will make you the suspect.

And if you make a Citizens Arrest ALL the civil liability will be your$ when they do not charge the case. Civil rights violations are not cheap.

All GREAT reasons to either stay off the phone or at least very very anonymous. Besides, anonymous sources are easier to write in a report and cannot be challenged in court as easily a subpoenaeabled person. *67 on a 7 digit line is everyone's friend.

YMMV.

 

[57Bill]

This thread is an example of why critics from the RadioBanter forum characterize RR as a pro-cop forum. I know, I know: "so What?!"

 

[mjthomas59]

This thread is an example of why critics from the RadioBanter forum characterize RR as a pro-cop forum. I know, I know: "so What?!"

That may or may not have to do with a pretty fair percentage of RR members being LEO, former LEO, EMS, FIRE, members of emergency management, or a plethora of other volunteer agencies which aide the general public including the above listed professions.

 

[hoser147]

It really doesn't matter what kind of BS someone wants to put on another forum, although kinda spineless, ya got a beef about this place put it here. Where else in the World are you going to get a database and a forum with the information ya get here?? No where to my knowledge. There are alot of people that support Law enforcement here and some that dont, makes a good mix. As far as this post some interesting stories and more to come Im sure. In these times its pretty obvious that everyone that scans will at some point be at or near the wrong or right place and have some decisions to make on what to do. Just do the right thing without endangering yourself or others. Be Safe and Good Scannin Hoser

 

[glide]

I was going down I-40W in knoxville and some reckless a-hole was all over the road,passing cars on the left while in the left lane.Very dangerous situation.I had been listening to the scanner and someone had already called 911.In a few moments I heard "complaintant lost suspect. does not know if he went straight on I-40W or peeled off on I-75S. I knew he had taken the I-75 cut-off so I called 911 and advised them.Next thing I hear over the scanner was the dispatcher giving out that information to LE.No mention of how I knew this was ever made.I hope it helped and NO,I did not go on down the road to follow up on what happened.

 

[MaxMan1986]

Trust me it is always better to call. I'll never forget the day i was driving to the academy and observed 2 younger females standing beside their car on the interstate. It was about 6:30 am and i was tired and not feeling like doing anything. So i didn't. I drove past them and left them stranded. It wasn't until about 30 minutes later that i heard the local pd get a call to assist those 2 girls. I felt like crap about not making the call when i observed them, and although i don't feel the necessity to stop and render aide, making the call was something i should have done. You have to remember that even though "everyone has a cellphone" in reality not everyone does, and those that do may have a dead battery, no reception, etc. That and there are thousands of people just like me that day who said "i'm sure someone else called the police for them so everything is fine". Everything was fine, but they stood out roadside in the freezing cold for 1/2 an hour longer than they would have if i'd called when i drove past them.

Good point there. A few years ago my father was driving me back up to college after winter break on a very snowy day. While we were traveling down a snow-covered highway with poor visibility, we saw a car skid and leave the road. It didn't appear to be a bad accident and I didn't think the car had even hit anything, so I didn't feel it was necessary to do anything about it. We didn't stop but my father insisted that we call the police so that they could check on it. We never found out what became of the situation, but I'm glad we made that call. Like you said, everything was probably fine, but if it was anything serious, the person in that car could have been stranded there for a long time if we hadn't called.

 

[LEH]

Calling in an incident, even if you haven't heard it on your scanner is important. I'd rather make the call and be told 'yes, we know' than ignore it and have someone go without aide.

About the only time I don't is when I pass an incident where I see people standing around talking on their cell phones. If one of them hasn't called, and they are involved, then I'm not going to.

 

[ScanTheFreqs]

. *67 on a 7 digit line is everyone's friend.

YMMV.

does that even work when you call a police station? i would hope their technology is a little better then that....

 

[mjthomas59]

does that even work when you call a police station? i would hope their technology is a little better then that....

Some places it will work, some places it won't. If you call 911 from your home then no, it will register your phone number and address. If you call the non-emergency number then it more than likely won't be recorded regardless of whether you *67 or not. Cell phones are a whole different beast because they rarely if ever go to the right dispatch center. Normally they end up going to the highway patrol/state police, or to a county dispatch center that has "all the bells and whistles". Regardless, many dispatch centers can barely track a cellphone to a particular city block let alone to your actual house or location.

Regardless of whether they get your number or not, if you wish to be anonymous then you remain anonymous to everyone but the dispatcher. Law Enforcement in general is well aware of retaliation by neighbors who find out that another neighbor turned them in for that huge party or underage drinking. If you want to be anonymous for fear your neighbors will find out it was you that called, and you believe something negative could happen as a result of this, then so be it.There is nothing wrong with being anonymous. However, be advised that per the civil rights guaranteed to you by the constitution many anonymous complaints don't provide probable cause for LE, and therefore won't be followed up on. Matters concerning national security, bomb threats to schools, and several other extreme cases can remain anonymous and will still be investigated, however many other crimes won't be because an anonymous complaint doesn't provide probable cause, nor can it alone give you reasonable suspicion to frisk a person for weapons. See the court case below for further reading/knowledge.

See court case Terry v. Ohio for a prime instance of this actually happening and the outcome.

 

[AZScanner]

I was just wondering if for example your local PD is looking for a possible drunken driver and they gave the plate over the radio and you happened to be driving in the area and heard it on your scanner and you're behind the car they're looking for , should you call 911 and tell them you heard it on your scanner and have located the vehicle they're looking for? How does a Police Dept. react about ppl that have scanners and want to be helpful? Any experience, tips, or comments. Also is it better to stay annonimous and keep driving after they stop it or could you pull over and let the cops know it was you that called it in. I just don't want to get in trouble if I ever want to help.

Definitely call it in, but don't be a scanner whacker about it by talking in cop speak and 10 codes. Be direct, concise and speak in clear english. It's much better to say "I'm at the intersection of Lost and Found and am behind the vehicle that you just called out as being involved in a hit and run" than to say "I'm code 6 behind the 962 Henry suspect at Lost and Found, roll a marked unit and the airship to my location, 10-4?" :roll: You'd be amazed at how many "helpful scanner listeners" become "annoying whackers" when dialing 911 and talking like this. According to some dispatchers I know, it happens quite often and they hate it. No one at 9-1-1 will be impressed by your knowledge of ten codes.

-AZ

 

[chrismol1]

its mixed, mostly if you dont know the police force then you will be thrown away and told that its none of your business like most people have said. But assisting with arrests and warrants really is none of your business

 

[avgas]

I try not to get involved with the police at all but when you sit and listen to the police and fire dept out looking for a guy who has gone missing in -35C weather its hard not to call in and here is why. I am not sure if the people involved in the search for the missing man forget to use there heads or what. I listened to them look for this older man with a heart history for almost 2 hours. Being outside for 2 hours with low temps and high winds can be deadly. The man did have a cell phone but was not answering it. I called the local RCMP admin line and explained that I was monitoring there channel and was not interested in getting any information but knew from the chat on the radio that the missing man had a cell phone with him. I told her that his service provider could give them a good idea where he or his cell phone might be. I was told in a very rude tone that they were aware of that and they didnt need my help. I was pissed that the dispatcher was so rude. About 2 min later the dispatcher came back on the radio asking if she should call Telus securities to have the phone located. Well surprize surprize, they found him in about 10 min after that.

This was the second time that I was listening to my scanner where someone was missing and it took hours for them to think of using the cell phone to help find the people in trouble. There was a plane crash 45 min south of where I live where the plane was in a bunch of trees. The caller said he was in some trees by the airport. They looked for 3 hours before they tracked his cell phone. I am sad to say that the woman pilot did not survive the crash, she stopped responding about an hour after the crash. The first 2 hours of looking for this down plane was wasted driving around the airport that was 45 miles from the actual crash site.

Now that I sit here reading all of the posts I dont regret making the call, I swore I would never call in again because of what happened that nite. I guess I understand the stress and stuff the dispatchers go through so I will make the call if I need to down the road. Maybe if i would have called when the plane crashes the young woman pilot would have lived. I do regret not making that call!

Tell all of your family members that if you ever go missing, have your cell phone located, It might save your life.

 

[ridgescan]

Don't have a story for this one but am glad you asked this question-lots of great reading here!

 

[jleverin]

Nope, I think the cops would prefer I stayed out of their way. The only way I would try to "help" is if I knew they lost the suspect and I spotted someone that looked like him/her I might call it in. Other than that, no! The cops have enough trouble without civilians getting in their way and possibly getting hurt.

 

[Portable14]

I've helped the cops out with several incidents I've heard on the scanner such as drunk drivers and suspicious vehicles and such, It seems that they only get upset when they can't find the person, So it's really a matter of discretion as to whether or not it's really important enough to get involved in.

 

[windchaser]

i called the local police dispatcher on day to report four very young kids walking down the rr tracks. i gave her the direction of travel they were going, what they were wearing. and were i was at the time of reporting. there is only one set of rr tracks going thru my county, the dispatcher said she could not help because i was in another county. i told her again were i was and again she said call the other county and report it. she must have been new because i was four miles from her and the tracks go within one quarter of a mile from were she was at, but she kept telling me to call the other county. i said thank you hung up got information for csx called them, they thanked me and on i went . abt an hour later i got a call from an officer thanking me for report what i saw. turns out the oldest was 13 and the youngest was 8, they were from west virginia and wanted to see were all the coal was going, they had been on the road for two weeks just having a good time is what they told the cop. some dispatchers have it others dont. windchaser usmm ret